BSJ Game Report: Jazz 105, Celtics 103 - Boston's flaws on full display in loss to Utah

Everything you need to know about the Celtics' loss to the Jazz, with BSJ insight and analysis

IN A NUTSHELL

The Celtics started out hot, going on a 14-2 run, but then started missing everything, and their lead settled at four going into the second quarter. They pushed it back up to 10 thanks to a Jaylen Brown-fueled run. They lost it in the third, giving up 38 points and losing any offensive flow they had earlier. The Jazz built their lead to 11, but Boston came back to briefly take a lead, but late fouls and one final Jazz putback won it for Utah.

Box Score

HEADLINES

- A disappointing loss: I don’t care what this season is or isn’t supposed to be, this is a game the Celtics should have won. They shouldn’t have been in a position to need a late comeback. They shouldn’t have been in position to have a referee’s call/no call be the difference. This is simply a game they should have won. 

- Shooting woes: The Celtics are in such an incredible funk that the ghost of James Brown just bought courtside seats for the next game. We can argue the shot selection, but good looks are missing all over the floor. 

“I thought our offense put pressure on our defense,” Joe Mazzulla said after the game. “I think just kind of getting so many empty possessions offensively just put too much pressure on our defense, and we didn't hold the fort down.”

It’s hard to defend when you’re constantly in transition and cross-matched. It’d be nice to set a defense every once in a while. 

- Rebounding … again: The Jusuf Nurkic putback was the most fitting ending to this game. Of course the Celtics lost a game because of an offensive rebound. The Celtics gave up 15 offensive rebounds, and things could have been much worse if Utah wasn’t 6-16 on second-chance attempts. 

TURNING POINT 

This game was lost in the third quarter. I don’t care that the Celtics took a lead late in the fourth. I’m not going dignify the effort of the rest of this game by only focusing on how the comeback got derailed. 

There should never have been a comeback because the Celtics should not have given up 38 points to the Utah freakin’ Jazz in the third quarter. The Celtics allowed 36 in the entire first half.

THINGS I LIKED

- Jaylen Brown (non-3-point edition): He was 13-19 on 2-pointers and 10-11 from the free throw line. There were stretches where he was putting the Celtics on his back and he nearly saved the Celtics down the stretch. 

He finished with 36 points, four assists, two rebounds, and two steals. He was 0-9 from 3. Brown finished October shooting 49% from 3. He was 0-2 vs. Houston and 0-9 vs. Utah, and now he's down to 38%

- Payton Pritchard: He’s also not where he needs to be from 3, but I did like how he operated in the paint. He’s really comfortable there for a guy his size. He finished with 18 points, five rebounds, and three assists. 

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE

- The energy: The number one thing I didn’t want to hear today was “I think the third quarter, they got the best of us, and they played harder than us.” That's Mazzulla explaining the 38-point third quarter the Celtics allowed. 

How on earth is that possible? After just getting blasted by the Rockets, and with the Jazz coming in on a back-to-back, there's no way the Celtics should have been out-worked in this game. 

I honestly don’t care what Boston’s record is at the end of this season, but I’d rather see a team go 0-82 while working their butts off than see a team win without maximum effort. This group is not good enough to be anything less than 100% effort on any given night. 

“Obviously missing and making shots makes things a little better, but just our effort just wasn't acceptable, especially in that third quarter,” Derrick White said. When he was asked why, he said “Just wasn't ready. I don't know. Just wasn't acceptable.”

- Rebounding: Boston’s defensive rebounding percentage was an abysmal 58.3%. The Jazz were at 76.4%. The final rebound was infuriatingly bad. Which brings me to …

- Neemias Queta: When you have this position on a shot …

… You had better grab that rebound. 

But Queta’s base is weak. He got pushed under the basket and was so off balance that he couldn't get off his feet to get the rebound. 

Queta started well and the late comeback plus the initial 14-2 run allowed him to finish the game a +15. He was good early on, but it all fell apart in the second half. He was pulled multiple times for his inability to rebound. He had to be in at the end to try to defend the rim and, because of his size, grab a rebound. But to be trucked like that and put buried under the rim for a putback is embarrassing for a big man. 

- Derrick White: I’m just going to let him say it. 

“I thought I was shitty today, honestly. So I think I’m a big reason why they got back in that game.”

He’s going through it right now. I was happy to see him hit a big shot late in the game, though. 

- Sam Hauser: He was 1-8 from 3. 

- The third quarter: Every team will make its run, but the Celtics' habit of allowing one insane scoring quarter has to end. 

“It's transition defense and keeping them off the free-throw line,” Mazzulla said. “Got into the bonus early. When you get into the bonus early, it's tough to bounce back from that. So it's transition defense, it's offensive rebounds, and it's defending without fouling.”

The fouling was a huge problem, and it has been all season. 

- This no-call: 

The official explanation from Crew Chief Kevin Scott was “during live play the crew observed (Keyon) George slip and fall just prior to Brown slipping on the same spot resulting in the ball becoming loose prior to any contact.”

Okay, Brown’s left foot slips a little, but the officials can’t assume that he would have fallen or lost control of the ball. Brown lost the ball because it went off George’s foot. Also, Brown’s right foot didn't slip. That was planted, so we don’t know if he would have maintained possession or not had George not been on the floor to trip him. 

That explanation does not pass muster for me. That was a badly missed call. 

I will say, though, that the reason I put this way down here in this section is because I didn’t want to make this a focal point of the game. Of course, it happened with :47 on the clock, Boston down one, and Brown driving to the hoop. The Celtics could have won the game had George not slipped or had this call been made. 

I also don’t think the Celtics deserved to win this game so I’d rather focus on all the other things they did wrong before this. But I do think Brown was right in his postgame comments:

"Man, y'all going to get me fined because you can't have a mistake like that as an official at that point in the game. It's fourth quarter. There's a minute left in the game or less. And you completely -- the whole staff blows the f---ing call, you know what I mean? It cost us the game. Unacceptable. You can make mistakes at any point of the game, but right there, that wasn't good. That wasn't good. That was unacceptable. And then they're telling me like, 'Aw, we didn't see it.' How did none of you see it? You can't trip somebody in the fourth quarter and then just be a no call. It's some bullshit."

HIGHLIGHTS

ONE TAKE KARALIS WILL REGRET LATER

- This was the worst of the Boston Celtics. 

Every flaw Boston had was on display. This was a bad hair day, dropping coffee on your shirt during the commute, ripping your pants on the car door after you parked, realizing as you walk into work that you have two different shoes on, and then going on to screw up every project you touch during the day. 

Let’s go down the line: 

Bad rebounding - Their fatal flaw so far. 

Bad shooting - Along with the massive slump, Boston also has worse shooters than before taking a fair amount of shots. 

Bad defense - Sure, a product of the shooting to some degree, but there are also guys getting roasted with no help behind them. 

Bad lineups - Mazzulla is trying to press buttons, but some of the lineups out there have no chance. This was the definition of throwing everything at the wall to hope something sticks. 

On top of that, White is trying like hell to create on offense but is drawing so much attention that it’s hard for him to operate. Brown can carry things for a while but his shot disappeared in this game. The bigs are nowhere good enough to hold off any team with size.

This game was essentially the worst-case scenario across the board for the Celtics. It’s a bit disheartening, especially after their three wins in a row. 

The Houston game is acceptable. This one was not.

Next Up: The Celtics host the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night.